THE VERY MENTION OF DONKEYS CONJURES UP THE IMAGE OF HARD WORK!

• Humankind and animal species have lived in harmony for millennia, needs no elaborate reiteration. Since time immemorial, humankind has been ingeniously using the voiceless animal species for various tasks, right from domestication to food consumption to agriculture to warfare, as well as helping move commodities from one place to another. It can be safely mentioned that animals have rendered no less than yeoman services to humanity for ages. In the same vein, have we humans treated animal species with compassion, empathy, sympathy, and humanity for being our best buddies? The answer must be an emphatic no. Unfortunately, the very nature of humankind to take advantage of the inferior species has been overwhelming on this front.

PC: The Donkey Sanctuary

• The moot point to ponder over here is why we are lacking in extending a compassionate and humane gesture towards lesser species to uphold the virtues of harmonious living. Take, for instance, how donkeys’ population has been drastically reduced over the last few decades, yet again showcasing our inhuman ways for millennia of service rendered. Historically, donkeys have been a great workforce for humankind, rendering every conceivable service conjured up by us. Mind you, if it were happening to humans, you would call it genocide. The latest available census data for Madhya Pradesh shows that it’s left with only 3052 donkeys, an awful 94% decline since 1997. This ‘animalcide’, however, is not limited to one state or country.

PC: Pexels

• Two major factors (urbanisation+mechanisation and the Chinese traditional medicine market) are severing the worldwide man-donkey relationship, which goes back 7000 years. That far from grieving this loss, we are not even noticing it, reflects our fundamental alienation from plants and animals, air and earth. To mourn is to begin to heal. And begin to do the work of saving what we have been killing mindlessly. It’s true that, excepting regions like sub-Saharan Africa, socio-economic factors are eroding donkeys’ traditional roles in agriculture and transport. Even if this were the only explanation for the drastic shrinking of their population, it shows us to be a hideously thankless species.

PC: bKids Story – Short stories for kids

• How swiftly we are forgetting how deeply our ancestors – artisans to merchants to administrators – depended on them. Until just a few generations ago, they powered the caravans that linked cities, and in more ancient stories, they ferried our prophets and gods. There’s a second, more unconscionable cruelty. Donkey hide gelatine demand shot up on the back of the country’s prosperity and an ageing population. Even so, it wouldn’t be decimating donkey populations across other countries if those were putting up meaningful defences. India’s decline at 74% between 1997-2018 is worse than China’s 72%. One country’s actions seem active, the other’s passive. Who cares? Concrete actions to address the issue should be considered forthwith.